Quick Facts
Biography
John Benjamin Hickey (born June 25, 1963) is an American actor with a career in stage, film and television. He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart.
Early life
Hickey was born in Plano, Texas, and graduated from Plano Sr. High School in 1981. He attended Texas State University - San Marcos from 1981–1983, where he was active in the theater department. He earned his bachelor's degree in English at Fordham University in 1985.
Career
On Broadway, he originated the role of Arthur in Terrence McNally's play Love! Valour! Compassion! in 1995,a role he recreated for the 1997 film version.
He played supporting roles in a number of films including The Ice Storm (1997) and The Anniversary Party (2001).He has also appeared in Flightplan, Flags of Our Fathers, Freedom Writers, Then She Found Me, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Bet and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
He played Clifford Bradshaw in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret, which won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. In that same year, he played the lead in the independent film Finding North.
On Broadway, he played Reverend John Hale in the 2002 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.
Hickey played American novelist and playwright Jack Dunphy in the 2006 Truman Capote biopic Infamous. Hickey played Philip Stoddard on the short-lived gay-themed sitcom It's All Relative. Since It's All Relative, Hickey has appeared on Alias, Law & Order, Brothers & Sisters, Stacked, Heartland, In Plain Sight, Law & Order: Los Angeles, and Modern Family.
He appeared in the 2011 Broadway revival of The Normal Heart, for which he won the Tony Award, Featured Actor in a Play. He was in the Broadway revival of Mary Stuart in 2009, as the Earl of Leicester.
From 2010 to 2013, he appeared on The Big C and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the final season of the series, subtitled Hereafter. Hickey starred as scientist Frank Winter on the TV series Manhattan, which concluded on December 15, 2015 after two seasons and 23 episodes.
In 2015 he appeared Off-Broadway at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre in the play Dada Woof Papa Hot by Peter Parnell.
Personal life
Hickey is openly gay and has been in a relationship with Modern Family writer and producer Jeffrey Richman since 2003.
Filmography
Film
Source: TCM; AllMovie
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Dangerous Music | Tyler | Short film |
| 1992 | The Bet | Henry | Short film |
| 1994 | Only You | Dwayne | |
| 1994 | The Ref | Old Baybrook Policeman | |
| 1995 | Comfortably Numb | Priest | |
| 1996 | Eddie | Joe Nader | |
| 1996 | Sin #8 | N/A | Short film |
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Mark Boland | |
| 1997 | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Arthur Pape | |
| 1998 | Finding North | Travis Furlong | |
| 1999 | The General's Daughter | Captain Goodson | |
| 1999 | The Bone Collector | Dr. Barry Lehman | |
| 2001 | The Anniversary Party | Jerry Adams | |
| 2002 | Changing Lanes | Carlyle | |
| 2005 | Flightplan | David | |
| 2006 | The Ex | Wesley's dad | |
| 2006 | Flags of Our Fathers | Sergeant Keyes Beech | |
| 2006 | Infamous | Jack Dunphy | |
| 2007 | Freedom Writers | Brian Gelford | |
| 2007 | The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising | John Stanton | |
| 2007 | Then She Found Me | Alan | |
| 2009 | The Taking of Pelham 123 | Deputy Mayor LaSalle | |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Theodore Galloway | |
| 2010 | Civil Unions: A Love Story | N/A | Short film |
| 2012 | My Eleventh | N/A | |
| 2012 | Pitch Perfect | Dr. Mitchell | |
| 2014 | Get on Up | Richard | |
| 2014 | Big Stone Gap | Theodore Tipton | |
| 2015 | Truth | Mark Wrolstad | |
| 2016 | Tallulah | Stephen |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Trent | Episode: "Here's a Quick and Easy Recipe for Leftovers" |
| 1994 | NYPD Blue | Paul Gaines | Episode: "Good Time Charlie" |
| 1994 | Normandy: The Great Crusade | Louis Simpson | Television film |
| 1997 | Nothing Sacred | Dr. Elliott | Episode: "Speaking in Tongues" |
| 1998 | Law & Order | Charles Thatcher | Episode: "Castoff" |
| 1998 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Rick | Episode: "The Greatest Dickdater" |
| 1998 | Sex and the City | Tom | Episode: "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" |
| 1999 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Dennis Kohler | Episode: "Zen and Art of Murder" |
| 1999 | The Lady in Question | Paul Kessler | Television film |
| 2000 | Hamlet | Horatio | Television film |
| 2000 | Perfect Murder, Perfect Town | N/A | Television film |
| 2000 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Assistant District Attorney | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | NYPD Blue | Phillip Connor | Episode: "Mom's Away" |
| 2001 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Dr. Sidney Cornfeld | Episode: "Slaves of Las Vegas" |
| 2001 | A Glimpse of Hell | N/A | Television film |
| 2001 | Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows | Rogers Edens | Television film |
| 2002–06 | Law & Order | Aaron Solomon | 4 episodes |
| 2002 | Hack | Dr. Martin Shane | Episode: "Obsession" |
| 2003–04 | It's All Relative | Philip Stoddard | 22 episodes |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Randall Fuller | Episode: "Con-Text" |
| 2005 | Alias | Father Kampinski | Episode: "In Dreams..." |
| 2005 | Silver Bells | Lawrence | Television film |
| 2006–07 | Undercover History | Narrator | 6 episodes |
| 2006 | Stacked | Headmaster Keenan | Episode: "The Headmaster" |
| 2006 | Brothers & Sisters | Major Guinness | Episode: "Light the Lights" |
| 2006 | A House Divided | President Russell | Television film |
| 2007 | Heartland | Bill | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2007 | The Hunt for the Boston Strangler | Narrator | Television film |
| 2007 | Secrets of the Moon Landings | Narrator | Television film |
| 2008 | In Plain Sight | Donald Fraser/Donald Ferguson | Episode: "Don of the Dead" |
| 2008 | Living Proof | Blake Rogers | Television film |
| 2008 | The Real George Washington | Narrator | Television film |
| 2009 | Lincoln: American Mastermind | Narrator | Television film |
| 2009 | Timewatch | Narrator | Episode: "The Real Bonnie and Clyde" |
| 2010–13 | The Big C | Sean Tolkey | 40 episodes |
| 2010 | Law & Order: LA | Congressman Thomas Nelson | Episode: "Pasadena" |
| 2011–16 | The Good Wife | Neil Gross | 8 episodes |
| 2011 | A Gifted Man | Ben Tucker | Episode: "In Case of Exposure" |
| 2012–13 | The Mob Doctor | Mark Easton | 3 episodes |
| 2012–13 | The New Normal | Father Michael | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Hannibal | Dr. Sutcliffe | Episode: "Buffet Froid" |
| 2014 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Tom Moore | Episode: "Wednesday's Child" |
| 2014 | Modern Family | Dr. Clark | Episode: "Under Pressure" |
| 2014–15 | Manhattan | Frank Winter | 22 episodes |
| 2015 | Difficult People | Fred | Episode: "Pledge Week" |
Theatre
Source: IBDB
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Arthur Pape | Broadway |
| 1998–2004 | Cabaret | Clifford Bradshaw | Broadway |
| 2002 | The Crucible | Reverend John Hale | Broadway |
| 2009 | Mary Stuart | Earl of Leicester | Broadway |
| 2011 | The Normal Heart | Felix Turner | Broadway |
| 2015 | Dada Woof Papa Hot | Alan | Off-Broadway |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Tony Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Play | The Normal Heart | Won |
| 2013 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | The Big C: Hereafter | Nominated |